Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1887-03-31
our spirits. The most fear Just nsw
Is another collision"
We Snranahlod dl..r.. - a. Ill -


our spirits. The most fear Just nsw
is another collision"
We scrambled down to the shelf and
thence along to the cave, where we
found the other three. They had also
obtained a look to windward. and every
face was gloomy enough. We had
been worn out aboard the whaler fov
want of sleep. and after little we all
| began TO doze, and then fell off into
slumber. and it was after noon by the
mates watch before we were aroused.
Then it was by another grinding and
crunching. and by feeling the wind
| sliTieking about us. and we turned out
to lind that our berg was swinging
around to the gale, while it was at
the same time forcing its way through
heavy pack ice. In half an hour more
our cave faced to windward, and the
grinding was something positively aw-
| full We were all set in tremble at
the way the berg quivered and shook
and Threatened to- 90 to pieces. and
| while Williams, who. was the youngest
of all, fell to crying like woman, some
OF the others called upon God to save
us. The berg kept swinging, and by
two O'Clock We were again on the lee
| side, and now we could look right
| down on the tremendous struggle be-
tween our berg and the heavy ice which
covered the sea for miles around U.s.
The berg was driving faster than the
ice; and nothing could check its pro-
gress. AS it pushed steadily through
the pack the grinding was as if thun-
derbolts were ripping through forest.
| We did not swing but that once,
though the gale did not break until
midnight.
| just before dark we lighted our fire
again and cooked some more meat,
and that night we all slept soundly
The next day dawned bright and clear,
with the wind blowing from the south,
and before noon the ice most exposed
to the sun was thawing. We had a
clear sky and could see for miles
around us, and grand sight it was
The pack ice had mostly gone off
to the west, but there were score of
big and little bergs in view. We kept
the breakfast fire going all day as n
beacon fire, smothering it down occa-
sionally to make a black smoke, and
we rambled about good deal over the
berg. We started up three white foxes,
| but as we dared not use the muskets
| for fear that the conclusion might
work us harm, we made no captures.
The night came on tranquil, with the
wind going to the west and holding
balmy, and we had nothing to disturb
us. In the morning, as We were toast
ing our meat, we felt tremendous
next moment good third of it split off
with a terrible crash and floated away
from us. The loss of this portion gave
rs bad list to port, and for half an
hour we were in momentary expecta-
ton of the berg capsizing. 1t fioated
steadily, however, and by and by we
were treasured, and began to walk
about again, while the fire sent up a
smoke which could be seen many miles
away.
| 1t was about an hour after noon, and
the mate was making ready to remove
a thwart from the boat to use for kind
ling. when the Scottish steam whaler
| Highlander suddenly rounded a great
| berg to the southeast of us, and came
into full view of one of the men who
had just climbed up for q lookout. She
had seen our smoke and had been work
ing toward us for hours. An hour
after she was first seen we were aboard
of her, and it isn't for the purpose of
eSaggerating the perils of our adven-
ture that tell you we had not steamed
two miles from that berg when it split
in three portions with thunderous
sounds, and every portion turned turtle.
We didn't find our ship again, but
were eventually landed at Valparaiso,
where we got berths aboard of others.
The Vestal, as we afterward came to
know, searched for us for the best part
of week, and then, feeling that we
must have certainly been lost, put
up her helm and was off to a new
cruising ground. while we were en-
tered on the log book as thousands of
others have been.-N. y. Sun.